cherylannemason's channel

@herhhert Bela Karoli's contention was that she was about 10 or 11 at the time--which was a violation of the age rule. On the other hand, if that was indeed her age and yet she was clearly capable of competing at that level, one could make a case of applying for an exemption.

Pretty true to the book and the characters--he clearly isn't used to a woman asserting herself sexually but for Dany's sake is willing to see where it leads.

@ReishaTerrin I admit--for someone who was supposed to be a mere pawn, Dany has turned out to be genuinely scary in her own right--King Robert may have been righter than anyone knew in wanting her dead!

Somebody has clearly been paying attention to the Wimbledon trophy ceremony!

And this about 10 or 11 years AFTER having supposedly reached her peak--she still had a lot to show as far as sheer selling of a routine!

Ironic that it was that technically "simpler" second vault that came back to bite both Americans in the vault final that year--Kim Zmeskal sat down completely on her handspring front!

Such expressiveness!

@orlyswa76 "Dark Eyes"--a piece that Elena Shoushanova and Nastia Liukin have both used since.

@LenaLuver Nadia herself said, in an interview around that time, that she considered Teodora to be her main competition--sounds as though Nadia did understand that there was a certain arbitrariness to how their careers played out.

That boy does have a knack for enjoying himself!

One can easily imagine that Edith's introduction to the song happened just this way in real life--thinking that she was at the end professionally and physically, then realizing that she did have one last song to sing after all.

She really and truly was the complete package on this event, but seemed to have some sort of mental block which led to her not dominating as she was capable of--in Barcelona, the medal standings could also have been very different had she not had a fall.

@garyj79 I couldn't have said it any better!

To be fair, as well, Emilia did show some nice work on bars and beam that made up, in my mind, for the weird choreography on floor.

Of this group, I myself would've put Catalina at number 1--she reminds me of Nadia on this event.

Just goes to prove that the song speaks just as much to us "mature" audiences as in our more youthful days!

@TheLoveBabyDoll I think I read recently that "Grand Princess" would be a better translation of the title for a Tsar's daughter--a step above the title of "Princess" used elsewhere for a king's daughter or in Russia for the granddaughter of a Tsar.

@alexganger At the time, Alexei's hemophilia was kept very much a secret--his parents feared what the reaction might be if people knew that the child could die of a nosebleed or other seemingly trivial injury.

"Can he build it? Yes he can! Can he fix it? Yes he can"

So, now we can say "Adam's timer!"

Anything that can bring the foot traffic to a screeching halt at Tucslon Mall in December is a FABULOUS thing!

For someone who was not known as a beam specialist and who was at the time, as the man says, a good seven or eight years older than many of the other competitors, this looks pretty darned smooth!

@desglacons Amen to that. No way Tara Lipinski could ever have skated this program--and Sarah or Sasha would need their best days ever to even come close.

A true shame to see that fall--floor and beam were far and away Kathy's best events--she was a former world bronze medalist for floor and as mentioned, one of the consistantly most elegant performers of that era.

@ralucagymnast Polina Astakhova, the blonde, was actually a part of the coaching staff for much of the same time that Latynina was head coach. Living legends both--must have made for some interesting training sessions!

@Blackbeast87 Well, that may be the official line--but I spotted a documentary recently which said that Olga Korbut for one would sneak the occasional cigarette as an appetite suppressant--and it probably has been used by many another teenage girl, not just gymnasts, for that reason.

Hmmmm--riding beneath the "streets of pasta" could get messy!

@heninwarrior Considering that Lilia won gold for FX as well as AA, I find it hard to shed any tears--why not say that she and Shannon both had a solid Olympics?

@cpandrs Different times, different code of points.

@audie83 Interestingly, Stephanie Willem's story as a competitor also came to a premature end--she was diagonosed in 1978 with a rare congenital condition which left her missing a vertebrae and which would've led eventually to paralysis had she continued in the sport. She retired at all of 13 ye...

@esthertan8 One of the British gymnasts who did podium training with the Soviet team in 1972 had also said she was suprised to learn Olga's age--said that from the look of her, Olga could've passed for 14 or younger.

The story is that Valeri and his wife had at first tried to downplay and even discourage Nastia's interest in the sport, simply because they as former champions knew just what a tough road it can be to that level--obviously the desire to be supportive of her dreams won out--and all three have goo...

@keithsmd Ignorance only gets you so far--finding out the protocol for meeting a head of state is not that difficult, and such a meeting doesn't usually come as a complete suprise. Furthermore, the mere fact that everyone else in the room stood for the President's entrance would've been some clu...

@joonj03 That's one of the things many folks don't know about anorexia--that at a certain stage, you may be unable to bring yourself to eat even if you know you are on the brink of death--I say more power to her that she's been able to bring herself back from that and is continuing to recover.

Could've included Kim Zemeskal, who had a terrific three year run leading up to Barcelona only to make a couple of glaring and uncharacteristic errors when it most counted. And how about Kerri Strug who cemented the team gold in Atlanta at the cost of her own hopes for an individual medal?

These are all terrrific all arounders who unfortunately can be overlooked because of not being on the podium at the Olympics, even though several of them did medal in other events--and in Teodora's case, the point spread was so narrow that she must've been tempted to chase down the judges and ask...

@earlady66 Sarah Brightman seemed to have made a similar change for the better when I most recently saw her--whoever convinced her to just stand there and SING deserves a medal!

@rosenicolesmythe Makes you kind of sad for the injuries between here and Beijing--she's definitely a terrific all arounder and seems like a sweet young lady as well.

@ahrensgay At the time,despite Olga's and Nadia's efforts, there were still plenty amongst the judges who valued execution over originality--although in Nadia's case, she was able to back up her original content with drop-dead execution.

@trashywilma The Retton salto depended on those closer settings--and by the way, where was that move? Just goes to show that even those who aren't neccessarily known as bar specialists can innovate on this event!

@krell88 She and Mary Lou both relied on their tumbling on this event for sure. I'd have to say that Mary Lou always seemed far more comfortable selling the choreography/dance elements, though--and I say this as one from Kerri's hometown who has long felt that she was rather underappreciated be...